Fluid control applicator



March 23,y 1943. E. l.. HoLLENBEcK FLUID CONTROL APLIcAToR Filed Aug. 5, 1941 Patented Mar. 23, 1943 'UNITED ferries Parar ortica FLUH) CONTROL APPLICATOR Ernest L. Hollenbeck, Los Angeles, Calif.

Application August 5, 1941, Serial No. 405,504 ,2Y claims. (o1. 154139) My invention relates to fluid control applicators of the character embodied in my copending application Serial No, 321,621, led March 1, 1940, now Patent No. 2,282,406, May 12, 1942.

It is a purpose of my present invention to provide a uid control applicator which is structurally and/or functionally characterized in any one or all of the following manners: simplicity of construction with less use of materials resulting in lower cost of manufacture; the embodiment therein of a flexible andl resilient spreader tongue with normally closed ports leading from a fluidfeed duct to opposite sides of the tongue and adapted to be alternately opened by oscillation of the tongue in effecting and controlling the supply of iiuid to opposite sides of an applicator strip; the particular form ofthe ports which when open tend to confine the ilow of fluid directly to the applicator strip; the formation of the spreader tongue of tapered and relatively thin form to give added flexibility thereto and thus facilitate oscillatable manipulation thereof and consequent spreading of the fluid over the surface being coated; and means on the spreader-tongue for conning the fluid to the tongue and thus to the applicator strip.

I will describe only one form of fluid control applicator embodying my invention, and will then point out the novel features thereof in claims.

In the accompanying drawing:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary sectional view showing the neck for a bottle or other form of liquid or :Huid reservoir, having applied thereto and illustrated in section, one form of fluid control applicator embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is a View showing the applicator of Fig. 1 in side elevation andv partly in section, and applied to the bottle neck.

Fig. 3 is a view showing the applicator devoid of the cap thereof, and in longitudinal section.

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 1, but inverted and showing the spreader tongue flexed in one direction and illustrating by arrows the manner in which fluid is fed to the applicator strip and ultimately to the surface being coated.

Fig. 5 is a View similar to Fig. 4 showing the tongue iiexed in the other direction.

Fig. 6 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line @-6 and looking in the direction of the arrows.A

My uid applicator in its present specific embodiment, comprises a cap C preferably formed of metal and having a top I5 from the outer edge of which extends a collar I6 screw-threaded for application to the exteriorly threaded neck Il of a bottle or other liquid or fluid reservoir. The top I5 is provided with an opening I3 which, in

the present instanceis of circular form.

The applicator includes a fluid control assembly A formed of rubber or any other material possessing the requisite degree of resiliency and flexibility. The assembly is susceptible of being molded as a single unit and to form a body or base I9 and a spreader tongue 2B. The body I9 is in the shape of a disk of slightly less diameter than the internal diameter of the collar i6 so as to fit therein.

' The spreader tongue 2Q (Fig. 1) is relatively thin and tapered from end to end with its thick end perpendicular to and centrally of the body I9, so that the latter in effect forms a ange for the tongue.`

The tongue presents .opposite surfaces or sides ZI which are corrugated transversely or grooved longitudinal to provide a multiplicity of channels 22 extending from the base I9 to a point spaced from the free end of tongue, as indicated at 22a. Beyond these points the two tongue surfaces are smooth.

v It is to these two smooth areas of the tongue that an applicator strip 23 is secured by a staple 24 to cover such surfaces, as well as the extreme end of the tongue. This strip 23 is formed of felt or any other suitable fabric which has sufficient pile to hold the liquid supplied thereto incident to its application to the'surface to be coated.

As best shown in Figs. 1 and 3, the tongue 20 as well as the body I9, is formed with a duct 25 the inner end of which terminates short of the free end of the tongue, and is preferably rectangular in cross section, as shown in Fig. 6. Adjacent the inner end of' the duct 25 the tongue is formed with ports 25, 25 which when open provide outlets for the duct through which fluid may pass to the tongue surfaces 2I, 2|.

The ports 26 are formed by slitting the rubber at corresponding points and in two planes, so that each port is of synclinal shape with the apex of the slit centrally of the port and midway of the side edges of the tongue. Also, the ports are spaced from the confronting edges of strip 23 in order that liquid as emitted from the ports may spread to the channels in its flow to the strip and thus be distributed across the strip.

To apply my applicator to the bottle neck Il, the assembly A and the cap C are first associated one with the other so that the base I9 is positioned within the collar I6 and fiat against the inner side of the top I5. The base I9 now spans the opening I3 with the tongue component projecting from the cap. Thus assembled, the applicator is applied to the bottle neck with the cap threaded on the latter and the base I9 firmly clamped Abetween the top I5 and the upper edge of the neck.

As best shown in Fig. 2, the width of the tongue exceeds the diameter of the opening I8. This provides two advantages. First, the tongue isY lcompressed by the wall of the opening I8 so that the latter serves to retain the assembly A in the cap C. Second, a relatively wide tongue and applicator strip may be used in comparison to the size of the cap. The wide tongue and strip increases the applying andV spreading property of the device as a whole.

With the bottle, of which the neck I1 forms a part, containing shoe dressing, for example, such liquid may be applied to thesurface of a shoe by manipulating the bottle and applicator as follows: By inverting the bottle and applicator and using the former as a handle, the spreader component may be worked back and forth over the shoe surface in the manner of a paint brush, the tongue 2l! being exed from a lposition in which it is lperpendicular to the base I9, rst in one direction and then the other, So long as the tongue 2U is in normal perpendicular position, both ports 26 are closed, so that even when the bottle is inverted, no liquid can escape.

However, when flexing the tongue 29 in either direction from this perpendicular position, `that port 28 at the convex side of the tongue is opened, the port to the other side remaining closed. Thus, liquid from the bottle now flows from the duct 25 outwardly through the open port and along the surface of the tongue to the underside of the strip 23, from which latter it is applied to and spread over the shoe surface as the strip is wiped therealong.

As the tongue 20 is tapered to a relatively thin vfree end, it is extremely exible to permit easy 'bending thereof in either direction thereby facilitating spreading of the liquid on the'surface bein-g coated. Also, the tongue is sulciently reslllent to restore itself to perpendicular position after each bending, thus insuring immediate closing of either port.

Figs. 4 and 5 illustrate the two flexed positions of the tongue, the arrows indicating the path of flow of the liquid in each instance. With opening of either ,port'the major portion of the liquid emitted therefrom occurs at the apex of the port because of its synclinal contour. This tends to yconfine the liquid flow to the center of the tongue and strip. Further possibility of the liquid flowing oil of the edges of the tongue rather than down to the strip, is precluded by the channels 22. These channels act as capillary tubes to confine the liquid to paths of flow which lead directly to the strip, and there being a multiplicity of such channels an even distribution of the liquid along the length of the strip, is the result.

I claim:

1. In combination, a bottle cap having a fiat top for-med with an opening, and a fluid control applicator having a flat body closing said opening, a i'lexiblerspreader tongue on said body of compressible material, said tongue extending through said opening of greater width than the latter so as to be compressed by said cap, a duct in said body and spreader, and normally closed ports in opposite sides of said tongue and leading from said duct to said sides, whereby when said tongue is ilexed in one direction or the other one lport or the other will open. y

2. A fluid control applicator, comprising a body, a flexible spreader tongue xed at one end to said lbody, a duct in said body and said tongue, and normally closed ports centrally in opposite sides of said tongue leading inwardly to said duct and Iadapted to be opened by ilexing said tongue, said ports each of V-form with the apex thereof facing the free end of said tongue so that the major portion of the liquid emitted from the port occurs at the longitudinal center of the tongue and toward the free end thereof.

ERNEST L. HOLLENBECK. 

